Noordwijk – 150 Years Seaside Resort

The Zuid-Hollandse (South-Holland) municipality Noordwijk has more than 25,000 inhabitants. The year 2016 was in the mark of Noordwijk, 150 years seaside resort. Traditionally, Noordwijk was a fishing village. The village has two village centers; Noordwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk-Binnen. The old core of Noordwijk-Binnen radiates the tranquility of earlier centuries. Walking in the vicinity of the Voorstraat and the Lindenplein, you will experience times gone by. Here you will find ancient small laborers houses and beautiful monumental villas, old village pumps, a music chapel and the two major churches of Noordwijk that mark the ancient village center from afar.

South of Noordwijk-Binnen is another small locality called De Klei. Until the 19th century, fishing was especially important for the village. After that, tourism for the inhabitants of Noordwijk has become the main source of income. Every year more than 1 million spend the night in Noordwijk. Along the boulevard of Noordwijk are many hotels and restaurants and there is a wide range of nightlife. The shopping street in Noordwijk aan Zee have been open on Sundays for years and Noordwijk belongs to one of the richest parts of the Netherlands. On the list of 50 richest neighborhoods in the Netherlands, Noordwijk stands at number 12. Especially in the villa district the Zuidduinen you will find beautiful villas in the dune landscape. The Noordwijks dialect, which strongly resembles Katwijks and Schevenings, is still spoken by a small proportion of the native people.

Probably around 2000 years before Christ, people already lived in the place we call Noordwijk-Binnen. Around the year 1200, Noordwijk aan Zee was inhabited for the first time, presumably by fishermen. Jeroen van Noordwijk, a Scottish Benedictine monk, did missionary work and built a chapel in Noordwijk around 850. A few years later, he was captured by Northmen and beheaded after. Around 980, a Romanesque chapel was built in honor of him, which was replaced in 1303 by a stone church, which was later replaced by Saint Jeroen Church (Sint Jeroenskerk). In 889, the Count of West Frisia received a letter from the King of Lorraine, in which it was stated that he would receive Northgo as collateral (the old name of Noordwijk). Northgo meant ‘Go (or gouw) to the north’, which stood for something like ‘residence north of the Rhine’. The bishop of Utrecht declared Noordwijk to place of pilgrimage in 1429. The suspected skull of Saint Jeroen was the main relic. Due to a large fire in Noordwijk-Binnen in the year 1450 the church was completely destroyed. The Reformation in the 16th century made an end to Noordwijk as a place of pilgrimage.

Enjoy relaxing on the beach, enjoy going out, enjoy culinary delights, stay at a seaside campsite at the coast or in a luxurious 5-star hotel, all is possible in Noordwijk. It’s not without a reason that already for 150 years Noordwijk has been the most beautiful seaside resort in the Netherlands!